Bedroom in Discovery

Artist Statement: In the mass media, mental hospitals are portrayed as scary and dangerous, and so there is a stigma produced. But this stigma isn’t true. I spent time in a mental hospital, and the hospital was calm, safe, and friendly. In this painting I presented a mental hospital room, an appropriation piece based off of Vincent van Gogh’s “Bedroom in Arles.” I also used details I remembered from my own time spent in the Discovery unit in Anchorage. I chose to do an appropriation of Van Gogh’s because I wanted his calming style to help the room look safe and calming itself, and also because Van Gogh spent time in a mental hospital himself. With these connections I hope to communicate the real conditions of modern day mental hospitals.